Run Away
by RabidErikPhan
Summary: [H]. 17 year old Torie ran away from home a long time ago, and now she moved herself from Santa Fe to NYC to search for her friends. not as corny as it sounds. AU Angel Lives!
1. Chapter 1

This is my first RENTfic, so please be nice!

Run Away

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Chapter 1: Torie's story

The year is 1992. I had just disembarked the bus 10 minutes ago, carrying the small duffel bag I carried with me that contained my music, clothes, and about $75 dollars. My name is Torie Martino, I am 17 years old. 4 years ago I ran away from home in Hollywood and fled to Santa Fe, where I had lived up until now. I had a small apartment there and had sung on the streets for money. For the last two years, I had hung out at a small café called Sunny, where the manager, Tom Collins (I called him Liquor) was a great person to tell anything. Sunny was only open in May, June, July, and September. It was the best thing for me to talk to Liquor about life, and everything else. Another great person to talk to at the café was my best friend, Angel, who is a drag queen. Both of them had told me about New York City. After 2 years of talking to them instead of acting on my instincts, I hopped on a bus and had gone all the way from Santa Fe to New York, and hoped that I could find Angel and Liquor. I roamed the streets of the lower East Side for a while, hoping that the two lovers were out for a walk, but no such luck. So I stopped on a street corner and began to sing. I collected about $5.00 before I felt that my vocal chords would rip in half. I sighed and laid down on a bench in a park on a bench and thought of what the future has in store for me.


	2. Chapters 2&3

A/N: This takes place 3 days after chapter 1

Run Away

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Chapter 2: Roger

I woke up and quickly got off the uncomfortable bench, walking out of the park into the streets. I hummed vocal exercises as I searched for a street corner where I could sing. I found one and was soon prepping to sing. I looked to the ground, closed my eyes, and took 3 deep breaths before beginning to sing a song I had written called 'Broken Glass'. Not too far into the song I heard a guitar accompanying me. I thought it was my imagination, and did not let my focus break. At the final chorus, I heard a smooth male voice singing along. I looked up as I finished, picked up and pocketed the few spare coins I had been thrown, and then spun around to see a man with long blonde hair, sitting with a beat up guitar on his legs, looking at me. I was reminded suddenly of the worst experience of my life, one that I wanted to forget. I turned and tried to run, but a hand caught me. I looked back to see the same man holding my arm.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," he said, and I calmed down a little, but didn't let my guard down.

"I'm Roger. Roger Davis," he said, and I let my guard slip a little. He wouldn't tell me his name if he was going to…

"You're songs are beautiful. I have been listening to you sing for the last few days. I'm sure my friends would love to hear you sing," he smiled gently, "I'll meet you here tomorrow at 8 am. I'll bring my friends," he let go of my arm and walked away. I quickly gathered my things and ran off.

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Chapter 3: Friends

I nervously trekked back to the street corner where I was meeting Roger. I was scared out of my mind, wondering if he was really a nice guy, or if he was trying to trick me, but I knew I would never know if I didn't try. I sat on the bench that Roger had been sitting on yesterday, and closed my eyes as I began to hum. When I finally opened my eyes again, I saw Roger in front of me with a group of 6 people, 2 of which I recognized, but I don't know if they recognized me. I had to tell them somehow…

"Liquor," I said simply, and Angel stopped talking abruptly to the Hispanic girl to her right, and Collins stopped staring off into space. They looked at me.

"Torie," Angel stated, and then smiled and gave me a hug. I looked at Collins, whose face was a mix of confusion and happiness.

"What are you doing here? New York City isn't a safe place for 17 year old girls to be running around," he asked, his eyes glinting.

"I'll tell you why, Liquor," I responded, "It's because of you and Angel. You two always told me that New York was the environment that I had been searching for. That it was completely different, and that most people didn't judge by stupid little things like sexuality or race. You said that here people were just people, something that I have been searching for since I ran away 4 years ago. And I'm not going to be 17 for long; I'll be 18 in 5 days,"

"Do you have somewhere to live, sweetie?" Angel asked me, and I shook my head.

"I've been living on the streets for 4 days. Not that long," I said.

"You'll stay with us. And by 'us' I mean our family," she said. I raised an eyebrow, but she didn't notice.

"Do you guys have any room for her to stay in?" Collins asked the group, and a blonde man who had been filming the whole time stuck his head out from behind the camera.

"I've got 2 empty bedrooms, Collins. Roger and Mimi moved into her apartment," he said.

"Thanks, Mark," Collins said to him, and he gave him a thumbs up from behind the camera. I made a mental note that Mark was incredibly cute. I walked back with the group, talking to Angel and 3 girls I soon knew as Mimi Marquez-Davis, Roger's wife, Maureen Johnson, the resident drama queen, and Joanne Jefferson, Maureen's girlfriend, a lawyer. We talked the whole way until Maureen, Joanne and Angel had to break away from the group. Mimi and I chatted until we reached her apartment, and Mark and I walked up the stairs in silence. He showed me where my new bedroom was, and I went inside and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep even thought it was only 1:00 in the afternoon.


	3. Chapter 4

Run Away

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Chapter 4: In the Morning

I woke up to a bright light shining through the skylight in the roof of my room. I got up and got dressed, before walking out into the great room. I saw Mark sitting at the metal table that separated the kitchenette from the living area. He signaled over for me to come and sit, and I happily did. I watched the blonde sip coffee for a little while before breaking the silence.

"You know, I don't really know much about you," I stated, and he smiled.

"Nor do I know much about you," he said.

"I can fix that," I said. "My name is Cristanna Victoria Teresa Martino, but everyone calls me Torie. I'm almost 18 years old. I lived in Santa Fe for the last 4 years, and before that I lived in Hollywood. I ran away from Hollywood because I couldn't stand my parents for two reasons: one, their homophobia was out of hand, and the second I won't tell you. The second reason applies to the two biggest secrets I have. Even Angel doesn't know these," Mark took a deep breath.

"My name is Mark Cohen. I'm 26 years old. Before I lived here I lived in Scarsdale, I moved here with Roger, Collins, and Benny, an ex-friend of ours, quite a few years ago. Maureen was once my girlfriend, but that went down the tubes. I work for Buzzline, I make documentaries," he replied, and I smiled.

"I think we'll get along well," I said, and he smiled,

"Oh yeah, I should mention, Angel and Collins are having some kind of party today," he said. I nodded, and he went back to his coffee.


	4. Chapters 5&6

Run Away

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Chapter 5: The Party

We met Mimi and Roger outside their apartment 15 minutes before the party was to start. We began the 3 ½ block walk to Angel and Collins' building. Mimi and I quickly began a conversation about color coordination that soon turned into a debate over weather red and teal could go together. Once we got to the apartment, Angel pulled us inside, and we saw that Maureen and Joanne were already there, and Collins was already drinking a shot of vodka. I hugged Angel hello and sat down with Maureen, Joanne and Collins. I suddenly had a very bad yet very good idea.

"Hey Liquor!" I said, and Collins looked at me, "I challenge you to a drinking contest!" I said, and that was the last thing I remembered from that party, except that Mimi, Maureen, and Mark were cheering me on, and Roger, Angel, and Joanne were cheering on Collins.

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Chapter 6: Waking up

I woke up with an extremely bad headache. Everything around me seemed overly bright, and every small sound sounded louder than a foghorn blowing in my ear. I had never been this drunk in my life! It hurt like hell. The door opened, and I covered my ears as Angel walked into the room. She had a glass of water and was carrying 2 pills.

"Morning, Torie," she whispered.

"God Angel! You don't have to scream!" I yelled, and she laughed.

"You're the only one screaming in here," she said, handing me the pills and the water.

"Take them, they'll help the headache," she said, and I complied.

"Don't scream anymore, you'll wake everyone up," she told me, and I quirked an eyebrow, and looked at her.

"Everyone crashed here last night because either they were drunk or their respective partners were drunk," she explained, and I looked to my right, only to see Mark beside me, still asleep. I laughed shallowly and went back to sleep, my head still pounding.


	5. Chapter 7

Run Away

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Chapter 7

I woke up to the New York City sunlight streaming thought the skylight in my bedroom. I groaned and got out of bed, and walked out once again into the great room. Mark looked up from the camera he was playing around with, gave me a little wave then went back to the camera.

"I was wondering if you'd ever wake up," he stated, not looking up.

"Why? What time is it?" I asked, looking around for a clock

"5 p.m, Eastern Standard time," he said, glancing at his watch.

"Well, it feels like 2 p.m. I guess I'm still a little jetlagged…or buslagged…whatever floats your boat," I said, rolling my eyes. There was a large bang a few seconds later when the heavy door flew open to reveal Maureen, who was grinning widely.

"Hey Torie! Wanna go shopping?" she asked as she walked in. I raised an eyebrow.

"Ummm….sure, Maureen. When?" I asked, giving her the 'what the hell?' look.

"ANGEL! MIMI! SHE SAID YES! GET YOUR ASSES IN HERE!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed.

"MAUREEN!!! SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!" we heard Mimi yell as she walked in, accompanied by Angel.

"Well, get your stuff! We're going to the store!" Angel said.

"Angel, if you haven't noticed, I'm broke," I told her logically.

"We all are, and don't tell me your broke, because you have nearly $100 in your duffel bag,"

"Found it!" Mimi yelled, and waved a $20 bill in the air.

"Where'd you get that, Mimi," I asked her.

"Your bag. Now come on!" she said, and she pulled me out the door. We walked about 5 blocks, me barely keeping up with the 3 women in front of me. Angel fell back and grabbed my hand, pulling me quickly through the busy street and into a little fabric shop.

"Why buy a designer skirt when you can make one almost exactly the same for a couple of bucks?" she asked me and I nodded, knowing she was right.

About 3 hours later we left the store, each holding 2 bolts of cloth and one bag of beads, and each about $15 bucks poorer. But still laughing and having a good time. We reached Angel's apartment first, and climbed upstairs, leaving our cloth and beads with Angel, who promised to make each of us new outfits. We broke apart from Maureen a few blocks later, and Mimi and I headed towards our building. I was extremely tired by that time. Maybe it was that I had walked more than I ever had in Santa Fe, seeing as Sunny and my building were only a block and a half away from each other, and I rarely went much further than that for singing. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Eighteen

I woke up and it took a few seconds to register my surroundings. I eased myself out of bed and walked outside to the great room where Angel attacked me.

"Happy birthday Torie!!!!" she screamed. I woke up immediately.

"Okay. Good morning. I'm awake now, happy?" I asked slowly, and everyone nodded.

"PRESENT!!!!" Maureen yelled. She held what looked like a wrapped shoebox. Mimi pushed me over to the couch where Maureen plopped the box in my lap. I lifted the separately wrapped top and looked inside. There were 13 bus tickets inside. I pulled them out. 8 of them said NEW YORK TO SANTA FE: ROUND TRIP and 5 of them said SANTA FE TO HOLLYWOOD: ROUND TRIP. I sighed, thinking about what the rest of the group must have intended.

"Well, it looks like I'm going home," I said appreciatively.

"Yeah," Angel replied. "We have 3 hours before we have to be at the bus station,"

The celebration continued, including music provided by Angel, Roger, and myself at separate times, and an improv about cheese by Maureen and me. 2 ½ hours after I opened that box, we left. We got on the subway to get to the bus station. The train unexpectedly lurched forward, pushing me right into Mark's lap. We all laughed as I slid into the seat next to him, only to be squished against him again, courtesy of Mimi, Roger, Angel, and Collins. I rolled my eyes.

"If I am not mistaken, I would think that you are trying to set me up with Mark," I said to Mimi conversationally. Mark turned bright red, causing us all to laugh once more. We got of the train, only to walk a block to the bus station. When we finally boarded the bus, the seating arrangement was like this:

Window Joanne Maureen Aisle Angel Collins Window

Window Roger Mimi Aisle Torie Mark Window

I smiled at the way we were set up and turned to talk to the girls. A while later, I went into my duffel bag and pulled out a manuscript book. The cover had been doodled all over, and it had the word "MANUSCRIPT" in fading gold letters, and smaller gold letters reading "CRISTIANNA VICTORIA TERESA." I rolled my eyes at the name and began writing. I fell asleep soon, manuscript and pencil in hand.


	7. New Story note

I decided, even though it's been over 3 years since I wrote _Run Away_, that I'd like to rewrite the story. Watch the group's profile for the next few days, the first chapter will be coming soon now that I'm (finally) done with the 15th grade and the last 3 years of creative writing (one of my three majors – ugh) have improved my writing a lot. And I promise to everyone that the chapters will be longer this time around. Hope to see you on the new, improved version of _Run Away_!


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